Well-cleaning device.



H. M. GREEN.

WELL CLEANING DEVICE.

APPLICATIGN FLLED Nov. l. i911.

1 ,272,253.2 Patenmd July 9, 1918,

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TORNE Y 'larged scale, taken NETE@ @VT HENRY Il. GREEN, 0F KANSAS CITY,MIBBOURJI.

WELL-CLEANING DEVICE.

Specification of Lettera Patent.

Patented July 9, 1918.

application am november i, iai?. sem-1' No. incase. i

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, HENRY M. GREEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kansas City,n the county of Jackson, State of Missouri, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Well-Cleaning Devices,of which the following is a full and exact specification.

The present invention relates to devices designed for the purpose ofcleaning out wells of small diameter, such as oil wells, which requirefrom time to time the use of some means for removing the sand, dirt orlike material therefrom. lt is herein proposed to use a iiow of waterfor this purpose, directed through the pump tubing of the well, and thepresent invention aims to provide an improved device for utilizing aflow of water for accomplishing the desired cleanu ing operation.

Accordingly, one of the obg'ects 'of the invention is to devise asimpleorm of attachmentor the pump tubing adapted to produce and maintain anefficient whirlingaction of the water at the points where the y sand andlike material are to be removed. It is also an object to provide aconstruction which will operate to aid in the feeding movement of theapparatus through the material as it is removed while at the same timeprotecting those parts which are actuated by the water flow.

It is also sought to devise a construction of as few arts as possiblefor carryingv out thev r uire operation, which may be readily an'conveniently repaired and ada ted to various sizes of well casings, andwhich will be economical and cheap to manufacture.

With these general ob]ects in view as well as minor objects which willappear in the course of the detailed description, the invention will nowbe described with reference to the accompanying drawing illustrating oneform of construction for embodying the proposedv improvements, afterwhich those features deemed to be novel will be set forth and defined inthe appended claims.

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a side elevation showing an attachmentconstructed in accordance with the resent invention- Fi 2 is `.a lon'tudinal section taken on the line 2-2 of ig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section, on an e'non the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and.i

Fi 4: is a plan view of one of the vane mem ers of the device.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the device is illustrated ascomprising a tubular member adapted to form an extension to the pumptubing 8, to which said member t' is designed to be removably connectedby means of the union 10. The tubular memher 6 is formed with aplurality of slits 12 which are cut through the walls of said member 6at an angle to the radii at those points (see Fig. 3) in order that' thewater received from the tubing 8 will be ejected from the member 6 in amore or less tangential direction for imparting a whirling movement tothe water. Outside the tubular member 6 is rotatably mounted a barrel 14having a collar 16 (see Fig. 2) for journaling its uppr end and closingthe space between said rrel and tubular member 6 at that end of thebarrel, the latter being secured to the collar by means of screws 18.The lower end of the barrel 14 is secured by screws 20 to radialarms22f'ormed on a collar 24 which is likewise journaled on the tubularmember 6, thereby obtaining a skeletomconstruction at the lower end ofthe'barrel for allowing free passage of the water as hereinafterdescribed.

The barrel 14 is also provided with a plurality of slits 26 of spiraloutline designed to receive the vane members 28 which are insertedthrough said slits and preferably secured near their opposite ends bymeans of angle pieces 30 and screws 32 to said barrel.

The opposite ends of each vane member 28 are also formed with extensions34 gsee Fig. 4) which limit the insertion of said venes through saidslits 26 to the required extent. The construction is such that each vanemember 28 forms a vane projection (see Figs. 2 and 3) extendin acrossthe space between the barrel 14 an tubular member 6 the proper distancefor receiving a primary actuation from the whirl of the water withinsaid barrel, while the outer portion of each vane member presents a vaneprojection extendin the proper distance between the bar# rel an the'wall of the well for exerting a secondary action upon the water passingupward from the lower end of the attachment.

Secured to the lower end of the tubular member 6 by means of a pin 36 isa footpiece member 38 com rising a castin the ower portion of whic is ofinverte -conc shape, its upper portion ,being of general ics cylindricaloutline and formed with a socket 4() for receiving the lower end of saidniember 6. T his upper portion of the foot-piece is also shaped toprovide a plurality of heli- 5 cal delecting wings 42 having theirdeficct- 'ing surfaces presented opposite the open space between thetubular member (5 and the barrel 14 at the lower end of the latter. Atthe lower end of the deflecting surface of each wing 42, the foot-pieceis forced with a recess 44 extending in the direction of the apex of thefoot-piece in order that the water may be allowed to flow to the loweror bearing face of the foot-piece. The top of the foot-piece memberserves as a bearing for the collar 24 and thus cooperates with the unionfor maintaining the barrel against any axial movement.

In the operation of the device, the pump tubing is taken up in order toreplace the pump cylinder or Working barrel of the pump with thecleaning attachment, which is secured in place by means of the union 10.The pump tubing is then again lowered into the casin until thefoot-piece 38 reaches the material to be cleaned out of the bottom ofthe Well. lVater is driven down through the tubing, said Waterbeing'forced in approximately tangential streams through the slits 12 ofthe member 6 into the space between the said member 6 and the barrel 14,thus giving rise to a whirling motion of the water in said space,whereby the inner vane projections from the vane members 28 are actuatedto rotate the barrel 14. The water passes out at the lower end of thebarrel and the whirling motion of the water is adapted to be maintainedby the action of the helical form of the wings 42 which it Will be notedare inclined in the direction of the whirl produced within the barrel.Some of the water will be allowed to pass down into the recesses 44 tothe bearing face of the foot-piece 38 and so allowed to loosen up thedirt and sand material as far down near the apex of the foot-piece aspossible and thus promote the feeding action of the device, which actionis of course further facilitated by the conical form of said footpiece.The water around the base of the barrel being thus charged with thematerial to be removed, it is driven by the pressure from behind, on upoutside said barrel and between said barrel and the wall of the well;and the whirl of the water'in this vicinity, as well as its advancemovement (which would be otherwise retarded on account of the largercross-sectional area outside the barrel), is constantly maintained bythe movement of the outer vane projections of the vane members 28, whichobviously are presented at the proper angle for directin the water flowupward as the water is force downward through the barrel. The amount 65of projection of these outer vanes will be gaged according to conditionsand requirements and for obtaining the most effective action as regardsloosening of the material and thorough intermingling of the same withthe water, and maintaining the proper advance movement of ythe water asit starts on its return flow whereby the sand and dirt are carriedout-of the well. Accordingly the core of the attachment will remain thesame while the moving parts may be varied in size to suit changingconditions. For slight changes the vanes may be readily detached andothers insertedof the desired proportions; and the described mode ofmounting said vane members obviously facilitates any repairs that may beneeded. It will also be noted that the size of the top portion of thefoot piece is such as to afford protection to the vanes against injuryfrom any unusual obstructions that may be encountered during thedownward feed of' the device.

It will thus be apparent Ihrat a simple and eiiicient arrangementand-construction have been devised for carrying out the desired objectsof the invention. Great economy is gained as compared to the cleaningprocess usually employed heretofore, which involved the bringing up of adrill rig to the Well and the operation of various tools for looseningup the sand and dirt material, and then washing out the well withcumbersome bailing apparatus. The present improvements, on the otherhand, involve merely the attachment of the cleaning device to the pumptubing itself, without the use of any other apparatus excepting meansfor forcing 'water into the tubing. Moreover, a more elfectivc andthorough cleaning action is obtained than formerly, the device acting tomaintain the vigorous whirling movement of the water all around thebottom of the well, and as the whirl of water of course carries aquantity of sand and grit along with it the stream cuts its Way through,continuously loosening up and eating through the deposit of material,with the result that the bottom of the well is thoroughly scoured out bythe combined action of the water and the sand and grit in the water.cone shape of the foot-piece promotes the feeding movement of the deviceas its cuts its way through the material. The device is made up of aminimum number of operative partsand will be found very economical inits operation as regards the water-flow required therefor.

While the foregoing illustrates what is now regarded as the preferredform of construction for embodying the improvements, the right isreserved to all such formal changes or modifications as may fairly fallwithin the scope of the appended claims.

That I claim is:

1. A well cleaning device adapted for at- As already indicated, the

tachment to pumpin tubes, comprising a tubular member having means forattachment to the pumping tube and provided with lateral water dischargeopenings extending outward at an angle adapted to impart anapproximately tangential flow to the water passing through saidopenings, a barrel rotatably mounted on said tubular member, and vanescarried by said barrel and forming vane projections on the inner andouter surfaces thereof, the space between said tubular member and barrelbeing closed at the top and open at the bottom.

Q. A well cleaning device adapted for attachment to pumping tubes,comprising a tubular member having means for attachment to the pumpingtube and provided with lateral water discharge openings extendingoutward at an angle adapted to impart an approximately tangential flowto the water passing through said openings, a barrel rotatably mountedon said tubular member, and detachable spiral vanes carried by saidbarrel and forming vane projections on the inner and outer surfacesthereof, the space between said tubular member and barrel being closedat the top and open at the bottom.

3. A well cleaning device for pumping tubes comprising a tubular memberhaving means for attaching the same to the pumping tube and providedwith lateral water discharge openings adapted to impart an approximatelytangential flow to the water passing outward through said openings, abarrel rotatably mounted on said tubular member, vanes carried by saidbarrel and forming vane projections on the inner and outer surfacesthereof, and a foot piece of inverted cone shape secured to the lowerend of said tubular member.

-l. A well cleaning device for pumping tubes comprising a tubular memberhaving means for .attachment to the pumping tube and provided withlateral water discharge passages adapted to impart an approximatelytangential flow to the water passing outward through said passages, abarrel rotatably mounted on said tubular member, Yanes carried by saidbarrel and forming vane projections on the inner and outer surfacesthereof, the space between said tubular member and barrel being closedat the top and open at the bottom, and a foot-piece of inverted coneshape secured to the lower end of said tubular member, the upper part ofsaid foot-piece being provided with helical detlecting portions oppositethe open space at the lower end of said barrel.

5. A well cleaning device for pumping tubes comprising a tubular memberhaving means for attachment to the pumping tube and provided withlateral water discharge passages adapted to impart an approximatelytangential flow to the water passing outward through said passages, abarrel rotatably mounted on said tubular member and provided withspirally extending slits in the sides thereof, and vanes extendingthrough said slits and detachably secured to the barrel and forming vaneprojections ou the inner and outer surfaces thereof, the space betweensaid tubular member and barrel being closed at the top and open at thebottom.

6. A device for cleaning out wells and adapted for attachment to pumpingtubes, comprising a tubular member having means for attachment to thepumpin tube and provided with lateral water disc arge openings adaptedto impart an approximately tangential low to the water passing outwardthrough said openings, a barrel rotatably mounted on said tubularmember, spiral vanes carried by said barrel and forming vane projectionson the inner and outer surfaces thereof for projecting partly across thespaces between said barrel and said tubular member and the wall of thewell respectively, the space between said tubular member and barrelbeing closed at the top and open at the bottom, and a foot piece ofinverted cone shape secured to the lower end of said tubular member, theupper part of said foot piece being of general cylindrical form of adiameter approximately equal to that of the path traversed by said vauesand provided with helical detlecting portions opposite the open space atthe lower end of said barrel.

7. A well cleaning device for pumping tubes comprising a tubular memberhaving means of attachment to the pumping tube and provided with lateralWater discharge openings adapted to impart an approximately tangentialflow to the water passing outward through said openin a barrel rotatablymounted on said tullar member, vanes carried by the barrel andy formingvane projections on the inner and outer surfaces thereof, and afoot-piece of inverted cone shape secured to the lower end of saidtubular member and provided with water passages extending from the upperpart of said foot-piece and in the direction of the apex thereof.

In witness whereof I aiiix my signature.

H. M. GREEN.

